Programs

Meditation

Beginning Meditation

If you are a beginner who is curious about meditation or an experienced meditator who just wants to try out our practice, we suggest you come to one of our Monday or Wednesday night programs. They start at 7:00 pm and last for an hour.

Monday nights include chanting, a short talk on kundalini meditation practice, and a short guided meditation.

Do you have more questions? Check our meditation FAQs page or contact us.

Eyes-Open Meditation

Our core practice at the Movement Center is eyes-open meditation, a dynamic practice with transformative effects. In eyes-open meditation, students sit as a group in silence with a teacher who represents the accumulated wisdom of the lineage as well as a limitless source of creative energy.

Eyes-open meditation is an opportunity for us to awaken our own creative energy. Our connection with the teacher is the bridge from our ordinary existence to the amazing possibility that exists for us. We can participate in the experience of the state of joy and fullness that is the foundation of our existence. In that experience, we are in contact with all of our senses, our personal reality, and from that place, we learn to make contact with the ultimate reality.

Participation in eyes-open meditation requires a simple set of tools that enable us to connect deeply to ourselves, to the teacher, and eventually to everything around us. In doing eyes-open meditation practice:

We’re trained in how to maintain our center as we move throughout our day.

We learn to fully occupy the space of our physical bodies and the space of our lives.

We become aware of the subtle dynamics at work in our environment.

Eyes-open meditation practice is held Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 7:00 pm. Before attending eyes-open practice, you are required to attend an introductory session. The introduction is offered at 6:00 pm on the days when eyes-open meditation is held. Call the office at 503.231.0383 to make an appointment to receive an introduction.

All of our meditation programs are contribution-based. Please make a donation according to your means. No one is turned away for lack of funds.

Benefits of Meditation

The basis for spiritual practice at the Movement Center is the belief that we are in this world to grow spiritually. Practicing meditation is a way for us to develop a more refined awareness and a connection to our subtle body. So meditation is our core practice.

Meditation, however, also has benefits on other levels. Among them are:

reducing stress

enhancing creativity

opening the heart and cultivating compassion

promoting healing

increasing self-awareness

improving concentration

If you'd like to know more, here are some articles about the beneficial effects of meditation:

The Movement Center

The Movement Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting authentic spiritual practice in the non-dual tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. We offer a variety of classes, retreats and programs.

We are based in Portland, Oregon, where we have a meditation center, yoga studio and ashram. Our community of practitioners is worldwide.